Bridge The Gaps
3D printing can be used to bridge the gaps between product launch, generating profit, and full-scale manufacturing of your product. Initial tooling for injection molding can range from $5000 to well above $50,000 per mold in addition lead times could be months. These costs can be exorbitant for small run production and startups. Bridge manufacturing is perfect for testing an idea in the market without committing fully to capital expenses.
First Batch To End-Use
We can help you produce the first small series of products or end-use parts to launch your concept to market. This allows you and your product to start producing the investment capital, revenue stream, and industry demand for the product, then the investment can be made in tooling for traditional manufacturing leveraging everything you’ve learned about your product from bridge manufacturing.
Bridge Manufacturing Case Study
An example of the benefits from bridge manufacturing is an order we fulfilled for a major renewable energy company. They wanted to implement a change in their manufacturing process to streamline production. We helped them implement this change within 3 weeks, a change that would have traditionally taken over a year. Our hive production of FDM parts served as a stop-gap to allow them to commence production via this new method while they waited for their injection molding tooling to be machined.
Small Run Manufacturing
For small series production runs, 3D printing is a faster and more economical option than traditional manufacturing. Boeing, Ford, Tesla, and G.E. are currently using 3D printed end use parts in real-world applications.